Overzealous ADRs or no?

[AnLsDad]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, early poster. I've read so many good and bad reviews and made some leap of faith choices based off them, but we are coming for the second time as a family on the DxDDP in July. Two young sons, will be 5 and 3, and my wife and I. The below are the ADRs I've made, but want to see if people think it's too crazy or some that may not work well for family. DS5 has a peanut allergy. Staying at AKL Savannah View.

Breakfasts
Garden Grill, Be our Guest, Boma x2, Tusker House, 1900 Park Fare

Lunches
Via Napoli, Cinderella's Royal Table (my boys love the attention from princesses, had to peel DS5 out of Ariel's Grotto), Fantasmic - Mama Melrose's, T-Rex

Dinners
Sanaa x2 (Our Favorite Dining Experience the last time), Teppan Edo, Be our Guest, 50's Prime Time Café, Yak & Yeti, California Grill

Thanks in Advance!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It looks like you will be spending 4-5 hours a day just dining. How are the boys with that?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Personally, I would not want to spend that much time in restaurants, but you know your family best.

 

[useakiss]

AnLsDad, you didn't mention how many days you're going to be there, but I have to agree with the others--this sounds like too much. From everything I've heard/read so far, you have to factor at least an hour, even 90-120 minutes--per meal, not including travel time. And half of those you listed are at resorts, not within the parks, so that's probably 30-45 minutes each way. You'll be hating yourself, your kids will be hating you, and you'll risk cancellation fees when you realize you aren't going to make it in time or just give up.

What I did was start a spreadsheet of each place I was really interest in, and what times I'd prefer. Then I did research on each, looked at my loose daily itinerary, and from that started whittling the list down to the absolute essentials--the places I absolutely must try this trip verses places that I'll be happy to try next time. I didn't want more than one reserved meal in the same day, unless it was my "rest" day.

I think you really need to reevaluate, pick out the essentials, and leave yourself enough room for actually enjoying the parks rather than just running and watching the clock and stressing over how long something is taking.

 

[eastendlights]

As someone who books at least 2 TS meals a day for every day of our trips, I will not tell you you have too many. When my kids were the same age as yours, they needed that down time to recharge so we have always toured that way. Some kids feel they are missing out if they spend that much time on dining. We have been 16 times for trips that were a minimum of 11 days-some longer-so we have seen and done everything many times. My kids always knew we were going back every year so we never toured on a hectic pace and they were not bothered by the time we spent on meals. It really depends on your children and how much you want to experience. We never felt the need to rush and get everything in and if you feel that way too then your ADRs are fine.

I would suggest trying one of the other breakfasts rather than dining at Boma twice. I see you are staying at AKL (we are also at the end of this month) but you can try out 'Ohana on an MK day or Cape May Cafe on either an Epcot day (5 minute walk) or DHS day (nice boat ride from the Yacht Club).

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We decided that if we ever did the DxDDP again, we would skip lunches, opting for snacks if we were hungry mid-day, and we would do more 2 credit meals. I can't tell from your list how many days you are doing 3 meals, but we felt that we were STUFFED the whole time. While we always eat 3 meals a day at home, breakfast is usually light, we rarely order appetizers or desserts with lunch, and we would also never order appetizers and desserts for every member of the part (we would share).

I do like the longer meals as our break times. We don't need afternoon naps, but we do need some time to sit and rest.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm counting 7 dinners, 6 breakfasts, 4 lunches, for 19 credits per user. Since this doesn't divide evenly, I'm guessing this is a 6 night/7 day stay, and the extra dinner is arrival night.

 

[AnLsDad]

Sorry, I assumed I put it: 8 days/7 nights. No more than 2 TS meals a day including 1 on the arrival night and breakfast on departure date. Will use the remaining credits as needed. We only have 5 days of park tickets as we want at least two low key days at the resort or Disney Springs. Using Boma as it is at the resort, and I've read that it's pretty good.

 

[eeyoresmom]

As long as you are not park hopping to get to the restaurants and realise you will be giving up park time I like your plans. All of your picks, except Mama Melrose, are some of our favourites and I think your family will love your choices. Be sure to pencil in time to enjoy your resort. It is a destination in and of itself and so much to see and do there.

 

[BaseballMoM2007]

We are going in December on DxDP with a 16yo and 10yo. We are planning late morning Breakfasts buffets and signatures most nights. We enjoy the down time in restaurants and feel like two big meals a day will suit us well. Every family is different so just do what you think will work best for your crew.

 

[ktlm]

Without having the schedule for them it is hard to say. We typically book 1 TS a day, and sometimes 2-- never more than that. The only thing that sticks out for me is T-Rex for lunch--- if that is a park day it is a total pain to get from a park to DS and back.

 

[nkereina]

We are not fans of DxDP because of how much food it is - not only a lot of credits, but each person gets an app, entree AND dessert at each meal that's not a buffet/family style. We never eat like that and end up leaving a lot on the table because of it.

Regardless, if someone is set on doing DxDP, I think it's more manageable if you do a TS breakfast and 2 TS signature dinner to use up your credits. You can use snack credits to eat light throughout the day, and then you'd be more inclined to eat each course at your dinner.

To comment on your plans specifically, I would never do the same meal at the same restaurant more than once a trip. There's just too many other restaurants to enjoy. I see you're doing Boma twice and Sanaa twice. I know it's convenient since you'll be at AKL, but I might try Boma for lunch or dinner and Jiko instead of Sanaa, before I'd do those twice.

 

[GillianP1301]

I think the number of meals is just fine, we do 2 - 3 TS a day at Disney and love it.

My only comment is that I would not want to repeat a restaurant in one trip. I have a hard enough time cutting my list down and would much rather try a few new places rather than repeat, but that's me. As for the other choices, that is very much personal taste.

 

[rwdavis2]

IMHO, even the regular dining plan is too much food. I'd never spend that much time at table service restaurants. We don't go there for the food. Most of it is just average anyway.

 

[CrazyDisneyWife]

We did DxDDP last year for our 7 night trip and loved it! We ate 2 or 3 TS meals every day with our 2 and 4 year old girls. It was great to sit, relax, meet characters, and recharge. They slept through 1 lunch and 1 dinner, but we ate anyway (they were in the stroller). We are foodies, and that is always a big part of any vacation we take. We feel that we saved time because we never waited to see characters.They came to us while we ate! I think we scheduled every character meal available!

We loved it so much, we plan to do the same thing next month (DDs are 3 and 5 now). I made ADRs 180 days in advanced. We have B, L, and D TS almost every day. We don't revisit the same places unless it's a different experience (like Ohana breakfast and dinner).

If your kids usually like to go out to eat, you should be fine. My girls are little restaurant lovers like us!